Adrian the Strong Little Engine
by RetroCaboose
Summary: (Remastered: With longer chapters, less OOC, and more development!) As the Skarloey Railway enters its busiest season, disaster quickly strikes! The railway is forced to acquire a new engine with an illustrious past...


It was a pleasant summer morning on the Island of Sodor and Gordon was pulling the express to Vicarstown. He soon arrived at Crovan's Gate to let passengers on and off the train. The station linked the Mainline to the Skarloey Railway and it was usually busy with narrow-gauge engines.

Today, however, Gordon was the only engine at the station. He soon grew impatient of waiting and whistled loudly. He saw that the yards were empty, except for the coaches.

"What are you doing over there?" he asked, "Where is your engine?"

"Whoever they are, they haven't arrived yet," they said.

Peter Sam soon quietly steamed into the station, trying to remain unseen. Gordon was swift to chastise him, but soon sped off to finish his trip. The little green engine pulled out of the station to start his own trip.

Peter Sam and his coaches rode up the winding track through the thick forests. The passengers complained about how long they had to wait at the station, but he paid no attention. Today had been far too busy…

 _Earlier that morning_

Mr. Percival had arrived at the sheds to give jobs for the day. The engines were already awake, despite it being only dawn. He yawned as he pulled out a clipboard for the day's jobs.

"Ivo Hugh, Freddie, and Luke," he started, "You two will be at the wharf. Sir Topham Hatt has some engines there today, so please try to get along with them and stay out of their way as they move cargo."

"Yes sir!" whistled Luke.

"We're ready for anything," added Ivo Hugh.

Mr. Percival nodded before directing the second group, "Skarloey, Rheneas, and Duncan, you three will be running passengers today. Sir Handel is still at the works, so Duncan, you must do his jobs until he returns."

Duncan only grumbled angrily as the trio left to fetch the coaches. Ivo Hugh, Freddie, and Luke departed soon afterwards to wharf.

"Finally, Peter Sam, Mighty Mac, Bertram, and Duke will be up at the quarry while Rusty and Fred will go and do regular maintenance."

The engines all left to do their jobs for that day. The sun was just beginning to rise, when trouble struck. Duncan had refused to pull coaches without a fresh coat of paint and he blocked the turntable. Mighty Mac was the strongest engine left and even they could not move Duncan from where he sat. Peter Sam volunteered to pull passengers until Duncan moved.

"Very well then," said the Stationmaster, "I shall have a word with Mr. Percival shortly."

Peter Sam went to go fetch his coaches, when he realised something. The turntable was still blocked! Despite being a small tank engine, it was quite unwise to go backwards. The other turntable was broken as well.

He finally decided that he had no choice but to go backwards until he reached the loop at the top of the line. Hopefully, it would be repaired by then so he quietly puffed into the station, coupled up to his train, and set off up to the loop line at the top station.

 _Later_

Peter Sam steadily raced down the tracks to the next station, unaware of what was waiting at a junction. As he steamed past the junction, he failed to notice the men who were waving red flags and shouting.

"Wait! Peter Sam, you need to switch lines! The track you're on hasn't been completely fixed yet!" they cried.

By the time Peter Sam heard them, it was far too late! He crashed through the barrier and rolled off the tracks into the grass. Luckily, nobody was hurt, but Peter Sam lay dented and dazed beside the tracks.

By noon, Rusty arrived with Mr. Percival to assess the damage. He gazed at the broken track and derailed coaches while Rusty pulled Peter Sam back onto the tracks. Fred took the coaches away to be collected by another engine.

Mr. Percival finished surveying and gave his report, "Unfortunately, Peter Sam, you will have to go to the works to be repaired and this section of track must be marked off and repaired with haste. We are down three engines as our busiest season is about to begin and I wish I could say things could get better. However, I have no knowledge of what the future holds…"


End file.
